Haptics is a tactile and force feedback technology that takes advantage of a user's sense of touch by applying haptic feedback effects (i.e., “haptic effects”), such as forces, vibrations, and motions, to the user. Devices, such as mobile devices, touchscreen devices, and personal computers, can be configured to generate haptic effects. In general, calls to embedded hardware capable of generating haptic effects (such as actuators) can be programmed within an operating system (“OS”) of the device. These calls specify which haptic effect to play. For example, when a user interacts with the device using, for example, a button, touchscreen, lever, joystick, wheel, or some other control, the OS of the device can send a play command through control circuitry to the embedded hardware. The embedded hardware then produces the appropriate haptic effect.
Devices can be configured to coordinate the output of haptic effects with the output of other content, such as audio, so that the haptic effects are incorporated into the other content. For example, in a gaming context, when a game is developed, an audio effect developer can develop audio effects that are associated with the game and represent an action occurring within the game, such as machine gun fire, explosions, or car crashes. In another context, audio input, or other types of real-world input, can be captured by a microphone, or other type of sensor. A haptic effect developer can subsequently author a haptic effect for the device, and the device can be configured to output the haptic effect along with the other content. However, such a process is generally not instantaneous, as the process requires a time period for the haptic effect developer to analyze the audio input, or other input, and author an appropriate haptic effect that can be coordinated with the audio input, or other input.